Tennis - Paris Masters - Accor Arena, Paris, France - November 1, 2024 Germany's Alexander Zverev in action during his quarter final match against Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
(Reuters) -German third seed Alexander Zverev knocked Stefanos Tsitsipas out of the Paris Masters with a 7-5 6-4 win in the quarter-finals on Friday, ending the Greek's hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
While the opening set was a tight affair, the second was one-way traffic as world number three Zverev built a 5-3 lead before wrapping up the victory in one hour and 40 minutes.
Zverev served well against the 10th seed, especially in the second set, firing down nine aces and winning 71% of his first serves in the contest.
"I thought the whole match was a very good level from him," Zverev said. "I got into the match and I found my rhythm and felt more and more comfortable and am happy with the win."
The 27-year-old, who improved his head-to-head record with Tsitsipas to 6-10, joins Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal as the only active players to reach 20 or more Masters semi-finals.
However, the defeat means former world number three Tsitsipas' run of five straight ATP Finals appearances is over.
Zverev will face 2022 champion Holger Rune in the semi-finals after the Dane overcame Alex de Minaur 6-4 4-6 7-5.
With the win, 13th seed Rune kept alive his slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP finals.
Local favourite Ugo Humbert continued his fine form after knocking out Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round, securing a 6-2 7-6(4) win over Jordan Thompson.
Humbert will face Russia's Karen Khachanov for a place in the final after the 2018 champion made light work of eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov, winning 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
